I've been reading through this thread, and definitely love the creativity! I like to play Pauper and Standard Pauper, so brewing with restrictions is right up my alley. I'll try and post something interesting after some inspiration hits.
Did want to make a quick comment. Zephyr Scarlet: I was checking out on of your decks,
and had a question/suggestion. You're running 8 sources of white mana, is this a good idea? You only have 5 spells that you will likely hard cast that use white: centaur healer x4 and obzedat's aid x1. Even after sideboard, this at most goes up to 8 with sin collector x3.
This is reanimator, not solar flare, so you aren't playing control early and then having the option to hard cast fatties later; you're purely trying to cheat them out with black/green spells.
Just a thought.
The number of Plains can certainly be downgraded for some other number of basics and/or guildgates, but I would not recommend going lower than 6 white sources, and that's being greedy for me. You definitely want to hardcast Centaur Healer T3, and sometimes as soon as T2, to hold off the gates against aggro, and you might need it in the rare case the game goes long and you hardcast a Primordial. After Sideboarding, you want to cast Sin Collector ASAP too because he loses his value as long as the game goes longer. I think 7 might be the correct number here, maybe swapping a Plains for another basic land and other Plains for a W guildgate so you have the 7 white sources in your deck while still having access for the same colors.
About your deck, I like it. Have you thought about some really big creature you can cast as an alternate wincon and can be cast through the mana you drain to aggro? AEtherling seems specially nice since both Control won't see it coming G2, it's super easy to cast against aggro, and both will side all their removal out.
This is a budget form of the Gray Merchant deck(s) everyone is running around with since Theros came out. It tries to do the same thing all other "Gary" decks do; get as much black devotion on the board as possbile and leech hitpoints with Gray Merchant of Asphodel!
Key plays:
1) Four Doom Blade and four Devour Flesh means plenty of removal! Your creatures with this deck will generally not be able to stand up to the big ones in aggro decks, so having 8 removal cards at hand is important.
2) Rescue from the Underworld and Whip of Erebos allow you to recycle your Gray Merchants, so you can use its ability more than 4 times.
3) Diabolic Tutor, Read the Bones, and Underworld Connections all give you some card draw, search, and scry so you can keep the cards you need coming. Underworld Connections will also stay on the battlefield and give you more black devotion!
The number of Plains can certainly be downgraded for some other number of basics and/or guildgates, but I would not recommend going lower than 6 white sources, and that's being greedy for me.
Fair points, especially about sin collector being less worthwhile past T3. Just wondering if you had taken into consideration that you wouldn't be hard casting a decent number of your spells.
About your deck, I like it. Have you thought about some really big creature you can cast as an alternate wincon and can be cast through the mana you drain to aggro? AEtherling seems specially nice since both Control won't see it coming G2, it's super easy to cast against aggro, and both will side all their removal out.
Thank you. Also, it's like you read my mind about big creatures as an alternate wincon. I was just looking into Aetherling and Prognostic Sphinx. Although, to be fair, I didn't really consider the fact that they would side out removal making it even sweeter!
Given budget constraints you could only do 1 Aetherling. And you already would have Horizon Chimera to chip away at life total, so perhaps 2 Prognostic Sphinx might be better as they smooth out your draws. Only downside is that you don't put the opponent on the ridiculous clock like Aetherling can do. Definitely think it's better in sideboard than Pithing Needle and could perhaps take out dissolve as well.
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Pauper: Delver, Familiar Storm, UR 8Post, Elves, Affinity, TE
Modern: Twin, Jund, Eggs, Pod, Balance, Uxx Control
Legacy: Painter, Delver, Stoneblade, Elves, High Tide, Lands
This is a budget form of the Gray Merchant deck(s) everyone is running around with since Theros came out. It tries to do the same thing all other "Gary" decks do; get as much black devotion on the board as possbile and leech hitpoints with Gray Merchant of Asphodel!
Key plays:
1) Four Doom Blade and four Devour Flesh means plenty of removal! Your creatures with this deck will generally not be able to stand up to the big ones in aggro decks, so having 8 removal cards at hand is important.
2) Rescue from the Underworld and Whip of Erebos allow you to recycle your Gray Merchants, so you can use its ability more than 4 times.
3) Diabolic Tutor, Read the Bones, and Underworld Connections all give you some card draw, search, and scry so you can keep the cards you need coming. Underworld Connections will also stay on the battlefield and give you more black devotion!
Interesting list. The main change I'd make would be to add in some Dimir Guildgates so you can activate Returned Phalanx's ability to add a bit of aggression to the deck when you need it. It will help speed up some match ups.
Gray Merchant certainly is constructed viable, but I do question some of the other choices.
I like the suggestion of Dimir Guildgate for the U mana, especially since Gray Merchant triggers off devotion and not swamp count (like Corrupt).
Deathgaze Cockatrice: A 2/2 flying deathtouch is nice, put for 4 cmc it might be too late. If you're looking for deathtouch then perhaps Baleful Eidolon which doubles as an enchantment/bestow later or Corpse Blockade which doubles as a sac outlet to your Gray Merchant (he's also a decent wall even without deathtouch!).
Disciple of Phenax: I again think that 4 cmc is a bit steep and you need earlier creatures. I'm thinking Basilica Screecher as it makes up for the lose of air power and with Extort can be a good source of drain to make up for the lost black devotion. If you really want hand disruption I'd use Duress as a sideboard card.
Diabolic Tutor: Your deck is already pretty well equipped to find what it needs. You run mostly 4-of's and you have Read the Bones and Underworld Connections. I think Tutor is overkill and more creatures would be a better use of the card slot. I'm thinking Accursed Spirit or Corpse Hauler, but I'm not sure.
Doom Blade: Why not Quag Sickness, with the number of Swamps you run isn't this better? It costs 1 more, but I think that's okay. It could even add to your devotion if you just wanted to make a guy smaller, not kill him.
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Pauper: Delver, Familiar Storm, UR 8Post, Elves, Affinity, TE
Modern: Twin, Jund, Eggs, Pod, Balance, Uxx Control
Legacy: Painter, Delver, Stoneblade, Elves, High Tide, Lands
Because we're not going powerful, we need to go fast. White creatures are cheap and strong. The blue gives you evasion and tempo, but still leaves all your creatures white. Civic saber is basically bone splitter, and spear of heliod is over hald of the deck's cost. The deck:
YMTC: We need a spikey red enchantment. My creations:
RR
Whenever a player taps a nonbasic land, [Card] deals 2 damage to them.
-or-
R
Whenever a player would gain life, flip a coin. If heads, that player loses that much life instead. If tails sacrifice [card] and that player gains that life as per usual.
*** BACKGROUND ***
I enjoy playing tempo decks and always look for ways to make that strategy playable in a Standard environment. THS Standard currently has no real choices for a cantrip but that doesn't mean we can't exploit some of the other cards granted in this set to do some fun things at a competitive level. In particular, the new Heroic ability is very intriguing and begs to be built around. The current card pool is limited but an interesting Heroic deck can still be built with this theme.
KEY CARDS & INTERACTIONS:
1) All the creatures: each creature is triggered by all the spells in the deck except Detention Sphere. This deck plays a lot like a tempo deck so we like to play one threat and force our opponent to answer. Turn one Favored Hoplite into turn two Ordeal of Thasa is very strong, especially against red decks.
2) Gods Willing, Mizzium Skin, Triton Tactics: these spells protect our creatures. Triton Tactics is very good against red decks and decent against nonred aggro and midrange creature decks as it serves as a tempo card in those matchups.
3) Ethereal Armor: since we run 10 other enchantments, Ethereal Armor can be a devastating card, especially if we can protect our creature from hard removal. Consider: Turn one Favored Hoplite, turn two Ethereal Armor holding mana up for Mizzium Skin or Gods Willing. Turn three Ordeal of Thasa, swing, sac Ordeal and draw two cards. Our Favored Hoplite is a 5/6 with first strike on turn three.
4) Ordeal of Thasa, Fate Foretold, Triton Fortune Hunter, Give / Take: this is our card drawing engine of the deck. Not having cantrips means we have to resort to more creative means of card cycling. Ordeal gives us card advantage while pumping our guys, and since 12 of our creatures get a counter immediately when being targeted by Ordeal, we will be drawing two cards the next turn if our creature survives. Fate Foretold cantrips and gives us another card after our creature dies. It also triggers Heroic on our creatures. Take can generate tons of cards if we find it necessary.
** BACKGROUND **
We've seen all-in red decks do pretty well. All-in Rakdos does similar things except it can do certain things better. You will either win or lose by turn 5. Against bad draws or if you go first, your opponent could get annihilated in no time.
The key concepts -
(1) Haste
(2) Overwhelming numbers.
(3) Resistant to lots of meta. Opponent's black removal is only effective 1/2 the time (i.e., Downfall) since almost all of the deck is black and/or multicolor.
(4) Sometimes hard to block. Intimidate can seal the deal with Mogis's Marauder. The Madcap Skills coupled with Marauders or Denizens can allow guys to run in quickly.
The only main upgrade to the deck is the quality of the mana base. The creatures are as efficient as they can get and it's only a question of what kind of support cards you want.
Coordinated Assault is there over Weapon Surge or other spells because it costs only R. The extra mana counts.
I'm not sure how you calculated the price, but using TCGPlayer's Low, I don't believe this deck is more than $4 as the only card that has any major impact on cost is Guttersnipe.
As Neuroticneurok pointed out, Searing Spear rotated out of standard, so may I suggest Magma Jet? It only deals 2 damage, but it can let you scry. The price is a bit steeper ($0.39), but you will still be well within the $10 budget.
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Pauper: Delver, Familiar Storm, UR 8Post, Elves, Affinity, TE
Modern: Twin, Jund, Eggs, Pod, Balance, Uxx Control
Legacy: Painter, Delver, Stoneblade, Elves, High Tide, Lands
Sorry it's been a while, I've been pretty busy with my sales thread, and life in general to brew. However, I just put the finishing touches on my newest $10 build.
If you love themed decks, you will love how this one was built. It was done from the top down with a lot of the card choices. After I post the writeup you will understand)
I also promise I'll get 100% caught up on this thread. My apologies for falling behind.
*** *** *** ***
[W/U] AZORIUS DEPARTMENT OF MOTOR VEHICLES
*** BACKGROUND ***
When I designed this deck I decided to make playing against it like a visit to your local DMV (I don't know where all of you live, but mine are really bad). Even if the opponent comes prepared, this deck will throw so much bad customer service (blockers), red tape (counterspells) and fines (removal) that progress slows to a crawl and he/she spends most of their time standing in line or arguing with your staff (creatures). The goal is to stall them out until they scoop from boredom or you wipe them out painfully slow with an army of Sphinx.
KEY CARDS & INTERACTIONS:
Omenspeaker: "Your early attackers are valuable to us and will be ignored in the order they are declared"
Archaoemancer: "I understand you already paid the fine to cast your spell, but we don't show it on our records, so I guess one more spell gets countered or one more creature removed"
Prognostic Sphinx: "I know you are in a rush, and would like to use some of those removal spells in your hand, but scrying 3 every turn takes time and we are understaffed"
Elixir of Immortality: "I'm sorry you were so close to the end of this game, however we lost your paperwork and you will have to fill it all out in triplicate once again"
The deck is pretty simple. Just counter, remove and draw to stall the opponent out. Get a Sphinx out, then use it to grab more Sphinx, and keep swinging until they are dead. If you get a plate mail then equip onto any employee to quicken the clock...if you feel like it. It's more funny when you are sarcastic about it like you don't care about the opponent and are doing the bare minimum to get by until you can retire.
Bump! Almost caught up with deck uploads! I had no idea so much brewing was going on in here.
I'm taking my Azorius DMV deck to tonights game of competitive standard ($300+ decks) and also a top secret project I'm putting the finishing touches on that will be posted sometime next week.
Keep um coming and I'll catch up ASAP!
Thanks for updating the OP. It's nice to see everything laid out in an easy to browse way. I think Zephyr wins most awesome brews so far, but there have been some other really cool interactions posted. Great thread!!
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Pauper: Delver, Familiar Storm, UR 8Post, Elves, Affinity, TE
Modern: Twin, Jund, Eggs, Pod, Balance, Uxx Control
Legacy: Painter, Delver, Stoneblade, Elves, High Tide, Lands
Er, not the most urgent change (especially since my deck is FAR from any kind of decent lol) but the colors you listed my deck as is wrong heh
I'm probably gonna give that deck another go, though, Looking at the other Midrange decks here, my deck doesn't match them in the slightest. I need way more biggies and less things cluttering up the cheaper slots. I'm working on a GU Heroic deck right now and i'll post that here soon (there's a thread on it on the forum) but after that i think i'll get back to Simic monstrosities.
Heck, I've been thinking of making it RUG or BUG, but i'll finish UG first before i do anything bold like that
Hopefully you had good luck with this the other night! I enjoy these type of decks, so I thought I'd give it a shot. I already had 99% of the cards on MTGO, so I put this together and got some games in with it. I did make a few changes, based on my experience, which I'll post at the end, but it worked extremely well for me.
Many (too many) opponents rage quit to this deck, which is obviously hilarious. However, for the ones that did stick it out I was usually able to take the game down. Aggro matches were tough and they depended on whether I could stabilize, which either didn't happen or left me with <6 health. Good control players had the advantage and there's not a lot to say when you lose to an Elspeth backed up by as much or more control than we have, but I had some wins there too.
All-in-all this is basically a Tier 1 control deck, but without the Planeswalkers and Aetherling.
For comparison here is my version of your deck. I cut two Prognostic Sphinx's for some extra land and changed the spells around just a bit. I didn't re-check the price, but this should still be around $10:
Quick question, to post I need to have the deck ready to play/played it?
Not necessarily. You could simply post an idea/sample list with all the info necessary (I do that not only to show others, bt to also make a reference so i can check how the deck is supposed to function, but i assume you'd need to be able to test it yourself so you can make improvements when necessary.
well, what i'm trying to say is don't be discouraged just because you haven't played the deck yet. just feel free to post!
[U/B] MAKING MILL VIABLE IN CONSTRUCTED SINCE 2013
*** BACKGROUND ***
I realized something about mill. It's a ton of fun to play, and really frustrating for the opponent, but it's never really viable in standard constructed. Problem is, straight mill cards don't do anything to affect the board, and as such you tend to get crushed by opposing threats. So the way I figured out to make it work, is to use cards that have mill stapled onto them or have other functions in the deck like blocking or dealing damage. I also really think Lazav can be a fun card to have in a deck (plus he is the same price as a mcdonald's chicken sandwhich right now). Add in a control framework for removal and counterspells, and we have a good shot at making everything work out.
KEY CARDS & INTERACTIONS:
1) Rogue's Passage + Consuming Aberration: So you have this huge Aberration that get's chumped all day long. Solution? Unblockable.
2) Lazav, Dimir Mastermind + Dimir Charm: Arrange the top 3 cards however you like, leave them a land and drop their bomb in the graveyard for Lazav to impersonate.
3) Prognostic Sphinx + Bane Alley Broker: Swing with Sphinx, set up your draw then tap Broker and get what you need.
Bane Alley Broker strikes me as being terrible. Far/Away and Dimir Charm seem too good not to play 4.
If Aberration is your win con why not 3-4?
TDK:
Bane Alley Broker serves as a budget Jace AOT, basically. During heavy playtesting against Tier 1.5 $350 decks last night, it was useful for filtering out excess lands or getting to more lands. Also, most decks don't identify it for the card filtering engine it really is, and don't remove it until after you have sculpted most of your hand. (It also blocks any of the pesky x/2 first strikers)
Far / Away is indeed awesome, and I may ramp up to 4 copies. Only issue is it's really only exceptional when you can play both sides, and I'm heavy into 5 drops as it is.
Dimir Charm isn't very good in my Meta. The creatures are too large for it most of the time, and most spot removal is instant speed. It really only stops mortars. The fateseal is negative CA, and sometimes will whiff hard. I think I have enough early drops and other spells to secure the early game.
Aberration is actually not the main wincon. It's vulnerable to almost every removal spell. The wincons are divided between 1) Lazav cloning a bomb like Aetherling, AOS, or Blood Baron/Obzedat. 2) Aberration being made unblockable. 3) Sphinx beats in the air + superior card filtering with Broker
Everyone's meta will vary, so tweaks would be recommended.
I've made a few changes, due to the fact if a Planeswalker such as Ashiok drops past my defense I have no way to deal with it and subsequently lose. Thus there is another Sphinx, less defenders, and Syncopate in the main board to stop Ashiok when I'm on the draw.
Blood Baron is also a huge problem. Syncopate and the extra Sphinx stop that, and also can stop Stormbreath as well. It's worthwhile to note that the scatters are in the mainboard specifically for Aetherling.
Did you consider Nighthowler? If not main board, then I would definitely think about sideboard as this guy could get big fast. Couple this with an evasive creature (Deathcult Rogue, Cloudfin Raptor, etc.) and baby, you've got a stew going.
EDIT: Okay, after minor testing (and I do mean minor) I have to say that nighthowler is AMAZING! Main board for sure; I personally cut Prognostic Sphinx to fit it in. Also, Bane Alley Broker was perfect for getting me the cards I needed, so I like this in conjunction with so many 2-ofs. I'm questioning a few of the spells though: Duress, Dimir Charm, and Warped Physique seem weak to me compared to other options.
I generally dislike mill decks, but this was pretty fun since milling them was not the way I planned on winning. I mean, I was swinging with a 20/20 Consuming Aberration and a 15/15 Returned Phalanx equipped with Nighthowler. What's not to love about that?!
Did you consider Nighthowler? If not main board, then I would definitely think about sideboard as this guy could get big fast. Couple this with an evasive creature (Deathcult Rogue, Cloudfin Raptor, etc.) and baby, you've got a stew going.
EDIT: Okay, after minor testing (and I do mean minor) I have to say that nighthowler is AMAZING! Main board for sure; I personally cut Prognostic Sphinx to fit it in. Also, Bane Alley Broker was perfect for getting me the cards I needed, so I like this in conjunction with so many 2-ofs. I'm questioning a few of the spells though: Duress, Dimir Charm, and Warped Physique seem weak to me compared to other options.
I generally dislike mill decks, but this was pretty fun since milling them was not the way I planned on winning. I mean, I was swinging with a 20/20 Consuming Aberration and a 15/15 Returned Phalanx equipped with Nighthowler. What's not to love about that?!
Zwei:
My meta is incredibly heavy on removal, so yes Nighthowler is a good option to help combat that via it's bestow cost. However, it's not able to stop a lot one of the main enemies of the deck: Blood Baron. Prognostic is also one of the few cards that can nail planeswalkers consistently (they can't remove it, and it flies)
Duress is in the mainboard specifically to take out planeswalkers and sweepers. This deck has a really hard time with planeswalkers. A single resolved Elspeth, 5 drop Jace, Garruk or Ashiok and you will lose the game.
Dimir Charm and Warped Physique offer early removal and alternative utility late game. Valuable enough to have 2 of each.
And yes, Bane Alley is pretty nuts. It's weird, because no one really spends removal on it until it's too late and I've already traded in 2-3 excess lands for fuel.
*** BACKGROUND ***
I wrote about a similar deck not too long ago on pureMTGO.
And while looking at it, I thought to myself hey I could make this under 10 dollars for shinbatsu's thread! So I changed a couple things around, took out the sideboard for price reasons, as well as some of the spells in the deck and of course Aetherling. The deck is still pretty much the same. It's a flash deck where almost every spell is an instant so you will be playing mostly on you're opponent's turn. And once they're out of resources you can land a chimera to finish the game.
I go into more detail about how the deck would look like when less of a budget is taken into an account, but two of the biggest additions here would be Aetherling and more Anger of the Gods as both would help you win the game faster. Some minor changes like Cancel into Dissolve and Inspiration into Quicken but overall it is still a fun deck to play and a pretty strong one at that.
[U/B] MAKING MILL VIABLE IN CONSTRUCTED SINCE 2013
*** BACKGROUND ***
I realized something about mill. It's a ton of fun to play, and really frustrating for the opponent, but it's never really viable in standard constructed. Problem is, straight mill cards don't do anything to affect the board, and as such you tend to get crushed by opposing threats. So the way I figured out to make it work, is to use cards that have mill stapled onto them or have other functions in the deck like blocking or dealing damage. I also really think Lazav can be a fun card to have in a deck (plus he is the same price as a mcdonald's chicken sandwhich right now). Add in a control framework for removal and counterspells, and we have a good shot at making everything work out.
KEY CARDS & INTERACTIONS:
1) Rogue's Passage + Consuming Aberration: So you have this huge Aberration that get's chumped all day long. Solution? Unblockable.
2) Lazav, Dimir Mastermind + Dimir Charm: Arrange the top 3 cards however you like, leave them a land and drop their bomb in the graveyard for Lazav to impersonate.
3) Prognostic Sphinx + Bane Alley Broker: Swing with Sphinx, set up your draw then tap Broker and get what you need.
The number of Plains can certainly be downgraded for some other number of basics and/or guildgates, but I would not recommend going lower than 6 white sources, and that's being greedy for me. You definitely want to hardcast Centaur Healer T3, and sometimes as soon as T2, to hold off the gates against aggro, and you might need it in the rare case the game goes long and you hardcast a Primordial. After Sideboarding, you want to cast Sin Collector ASAP too because he loses his value as long as the game goes longer. I think 7 might be the correct number here, maybe swapping a Plains for another basic land and other Plains for a W guildgate so you have the 7 white sources in your deck while still having access for the same colors.
About your deck, I like it. Have you thought about some really big creature you can cast as an alternate wincon and can be cast through the mana you drain to aggro? AEtherling seems specially nice since both Control won't see it coming G2, it's super easy to cast against aggro, and both will side all their removal out.
Thanks to DNC from Heroes of the Plane Studios for the sig
Check my Pauper Cube!
This is a budget form of the Gray Merchant deck(s) everyone is running around with since Theros came out. It tries to do the same thing all other "Gary" decks do; get as much black devotion on the board as possbile and leech hitpoints with Gray Merchant of Asphodel!
Key plays:
1) Four Doom Blade and four Devour Flesh means plenty of removal! Your creatures with this deck will generally not be able to stand up to the big ones in aggro decks, so having 8 removal cards at hand is important.
2) Rescue from the Underworld and Whip of Erebos allow you to recycle your Gray Merchants, so you can use its ability more than 4 times.
3) Diabolic Tutor, Read the Bones, and Underworld Connections all give you some card draw, search, and scry so you can keep the cards you need coming. Underworld Connections will also stay on the battlefield and give you more black devotion!
*** THE DECKLIST ***
TIMESTAMP: 10/15/13 5:44PM
24x Swamp
Creatures - 16
4x Returned Phalanx
4x Disciple of Phenax
4x Deathgaze Cockatrice
4x Gray Merchant of Asphodel
4x Doom Blade
4x Devour Flesh
4x Read the Bones
2x Rescue from the Underworld
2x Diabolic Tutor
2x Underworld Connections
2x Whip of Erebos
CURVE (0-1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 / 6+): 0 / 12 / 6 / 12 / 6 / 0
AVERAGE CMC: 3.33
MEAN CMC: 3/4 (3.5)
TYPE: BDC10 ($10.00 LIMIT)
CURRENT COST: $9.94
REMAINING BUDGET: $0.06
Fair points, especially about sin collector being less worthwhile past T3. Just wondering if you had taken into consideration that you wouldn't be hard casting a decent number of your spells.
Thank you. Also, it's like you read my mind about big creatures as an alternate wincon.
Given budget constraints you could only do 1 Aetherling. And you already would have Horizon Chimera to chip away at life total, so perhaps 2 Prognostic Sphinx might be better as they smooth out your draws. Only downside is that you don't put the opponent on the ridiculous clock like Aetherling can do. Definitely think it's better in sideboard than Pithing Needle and could perhaps take out dissolve as well.
Pauper: Delver, Familiar Storm,
UR 8Post, Elves, Affinity, TEModern: Twin, Jund,
Eggs,Pod, Balance, Uxx ControlLegacy: Painter, Delver, Stoneblade, Elves, High Tide, Lands
Interesting list. The main change I'd make would be to add in some Dimir Guildgates so you can activate Returned Phalanx's ability to add a bit of aggression to the deck when you need it. It will help speed up some match ups.
Gray Merchant certainly is constructed viable, but I do question some of the other choices.
I like the suggestion of Dimir Guildgate for the U mana, especially since Gray Merchant triggers off devotion and not swamp count (like Corrupt).
Deathgaze Cockatrice: A 2/2 flying deathtouch is nice, put for 4 cmc it might be too late. If you're looking for deathtouch then perhaps Baleful Eidolon which doubles as an enchantment/bestow later or Corpse Blockade which doubles as a sac outlet to your Gray Merchant (he's also a decent wall even without deathtouch!).
Disciple of Phenax: I again think that 4 cmc is a bit steep and you need earlier creatures. I'm thinking Basilica Screecher as it makes up for the lose of air power and with Extort can be a good source of drain to make up for the lost black devotion. If you really want hand disruption I'd use Duress as a sideboard card.
Diabolic Tutor: Your deck is already pretty well equipped to find what it needs. You run mostly 4-of's and you have Read the Bones and Underworld Connections. I think Tutor is overkill and more creatures would be a better use of the card slot. I'm thinking Accursed Spirit or Corpse Hauler, but I'm not sure.
Doom Blade: Why not Quag Sickness, with the number of Swamps you run isn't this better? It costs 1 more, but I think that's okay. It could even add to your devotion if you just wanted to make a guy smaller, not kill him.
Pauper: Delver, Familiar Storm,
UR 8Post, Elves, Affinity, TEModern: Twin, Jund,
Eggs,Pod, Balance, Uxx ControlLegacy: Painter, Delver, Stoneblade, Elves, High Tide, Lands
Because we're not going powerful, we need to go fast. White creatures are cheap and strong. The blue gives you evasion and tempo, but still leaves all your creatures white. Civic saber is basically bone splitter, and spear of heliod is over hald of the deck's cost. The deck:
10/16/13 3:40
4 Judge’s familiar
4 Precinct captain
3 Deputy of acquitals
4 Azorius arrester
4 Lyev skyknight
4 banisher priest
1 ascended lawmage
4 Spear of heliod
2 Brave the Elements
13 plains
9 Islands
4 rootborn defenses .03
4 negate .03
4 gods willing .04
2 Brave the Elements .1
Curve: 12 / 12 / 12 / 2
AVG. CMC: 1.333
Type: BDC10
Current Cost: 9.24
Remaining Budget: .76
Edit log: Cut the azorius guildgates. The mana is more than safe and you can't afford to waste time on tapped lands. Remaining budget change: +.20
Whenever a player taps a nonbasic land, [Card] deals 2 damage to them.
-or-
R
Whenever a player would gain life, flip a coin. If heads, that player loses that much life instead. If tails sacrifice [card] and that player gains that life as per usual.
Fires Rf Salvation
*** BACKGROUND ***
I enjoy playing tempo decks and always look for ways to make that strategy playable in a Standard environment. THS Standard currently has no real choices for a cantrip but that doesn't mean we can't exploit some of the other cards granted in this set to do some fun things at a competitive level. In particular, the new Heroic ability is very intriguing and begs to be built around. The current card pool is limited but an interesting Heroic deck can still be built with this theme.
KEY CARDS & INTERACTIONS:
1) All the creatures: each creature is triggered by all the spells in the deck except Detention Sphere. This deck plays a lot like a tempo deck so we like to play one threat and force our opponent to answer. Turn one Favored Hoplite into turn two Ordeal of Thasa is very strong, especially against red decks.
2) Gods Willing, Mizzium Skin, Triton Tactics: these spells protect our creatures. Triton Tactics is very good against red decks and decent against nonred aggro and midrange creature decks as it serves as a tempo card in those matchups.
3) Ethereal Armor: since we run 10 other enchantments, Ethereal Armor can be a devastating card, especially if we can protect our creature from hard removal. Consider: Turn one Favored Hoplite, turn two Ethereal Armor holding mana up for Mizzium Skin or Gods Willing. Turn three Ordeal of Thasa, swing, sac Ordeal and draw two cards. Our Favored Hoplite is a 5/6 with first strike on turn three.
4) Ordeal of Thasa, Fate Foretold, Triton Fortune Hunter, Give / Take: this is our card drawing engine of the deck. Not having cantrips means we have to resort to more creative means of card cycling. Ordeal gives us card advantage while pumping our guys, and since 12 of our creatures get a counter immediately when being targeted by Ordeal, we will be drawing two cards the next turn if our creature survives. Fate Foretold cantrips and gives us another card after our creature dies. It also triggers Heroic on our creatures. Take can generate tons of cards if we find it necessary.
*** THE DECKLIST ***
4 Favored Hoplite
4 Battlewise Hoplite
4 Phalanx Leader
4 Triton Fortune Hunter
Spells (24)
4 Gods Willing
3 Mizzium Skin
2 Triton Tactics
4 Ethereal Armor
4 Ordeal of Thasa
4 Fate Foretold
2 Detention Sphere
1 Give / Take
4 Azorius Guildgate
9 Plains
7 Island
3 Yoked Ox
1 Mizzium Skin
2 Shielded Passage
4 Pacifism
2 Glare of Heresy
3 Rootborn Defenses
TIMESTAMP: 10/21 @ 1010
CURVE (0-1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 / 6+): 17 / 16 / 7 / 0 / 0 / 0
AVERAGE CMC: 1.75 (maindeck)
TYPE: BDC10 ($10.00 LIMIT)
CURRENT COST: $6.61
REMAINING BUDGET: $3.39
We've seen all-in red decks do pretty well. All-in Rakdos does similar things except it can do certain things better. You will either win or lose by turn 5. Against bad draws or if you go first, your opponent could get annihilated in no time.
The key concepts -
(1) Haste
(2) Overwhelming numbers.
(3) Resistant to lots of meta. Opponent's black removal is only effective 1/2 the time (i.e., Downfall) since almost all of the deck is black and/or multicolor.
(4) Sometimes hard to block. Intimidate can seal the deal with Mogis's Marauder. The Madcap Skills coupled with Marauders or Denizens can allow guys to run in quickly.
** RAKDOS DECK WINS **
10/24/2013. 1:49 PM
4 Rakdos Cackler
4 Tormented Hero
3 Firedrinker Satyr
2 Shadow Alley Denizen
4 Rakdos Shred-Freak
4 Spike Jester
1 Tymaret, the Murder King
2 Blood Scrivener
4 Mogis's Marauder
4 Madcap Skills
2 Dreadbore
4 Shock
2 Coordinated Assault
20 Land
12 Swamp
8 Mountain
Curve: 19/17/4
Average CMC: 1.625
Type: ($10.00 Limit - TCG Low)
Current Cost: $7.43
Remaining Budget: $2.57
3 Pithing Needle
3 Seismic Stomp
2 Duress
2 Electrickery
2 Slaughter Games
3 Act of Treason
Sideboard is an additional $1.70.
The only main upgrade to the deck is the quality of the mana base. The creatures are as efficient as they can get and it's only a question of what kind of support cards you want.
Coordinated Assault is there over Weapon Surge or other spells because it costs only R. The extra mana counts.
I'm not sure how you calculated the price, but using TCGPlayer's Low, I don't believe this deck is more than $4 as the only card that has any major impact on cost is Guttersnipe.
As Neuroticneurok pointed out, Searing Spear rotated out of standard, so may I suggest Magma Jet? It only deals 2 damage, but it can let you scry. The price is a bit steeper ($0.39), but you will still be well within the $10 budget.
Pauper: Delver, Familiar Storm,
UR 8Post, Elves, Affinity, TEModern: Twin, Jund,
Eggs,Pod, Balance, Uxx ControlLegacy: Painter, Delver, Stoneblade, Elves, High Tide, Lands
If you love themed decks, you will love how this one was built. It was done from the top down with a lot of the card choices. After I post the writeup you will understand)
I also promise I'll get 100% caught up on this thread. My apologies for falling behind.
*** *** *** ***
[W/U]
*** BACKGROUND ***
When I designed this deck I decided to make playing against it like a visit to your local DMV (I don't know where all of you live, but mine are really bad). Even if the opponent comes prepared, this deck will throw so much bad customer service (blockers), red tape (counterspells) and fines (removal) that progress slows to a crawl and he/she spends most of their time standing in line or arguing with your staff (creatures). The goal is to stall them out until they scoop from boredom or you wipe them out painfully slow with an army of Sphinx.
KEY CARDS & INTERACTIONS:
Omenspeaker: "Your early attackers are valuable to us and will be ignored in the order they are declared"
Archaoemancer: "I understand you already paid the fine to cast your spell, but we don't show it on our records, so I guess one more spell gets countered or one more creature removed"
Prognostic Sphinx: "I know you are in a rush, and would like to use some of those removal spells in your hand, but scrying 3 every turn takes time and we are understaffed"
Elixir of Immortality: "I'm sorry you were so close to the end of this game, however we lost your paperwork and you will have to fill it all out in triplicate once again"
The deck is pretty simple. Just counter, remove and draw to stall the opponent out. Get a Sphinx out, then use it to grab more Sphinx, and keep swinging until they are dead. If you get a plate mail then equip onto any employee to quicken the clock...if you feel like it. It's more funny when you are sarcastic about it like you don't care about the opponent and are doing the bare minimum to get by until you can retire.
*** THE DECKLIST ***
TIMESTAMP: 11/3 @ 1213
9 Plains
11 Island
4 Azorius Guildgate
CREATURES - 8
2 Omenspeaker
2 Archaeomancer
4 Prognostic Sphinx
1 Elixir of Immortality
4 Syncopate
2 Celestial Flare
2 Essence Scatter
4 Azorius Charm
2 Divination
4 Detention Sphere
4 Render Silent
2 Aetherize
1 Haunted Plate Mail
2 Opportunity
CURVE (0-1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 / 6+): 1 / 14 / 10 / 5 / 4 / 2
AVERAGE CMC: 3.08
TYPE: BDC10 ($10.00 LIMIT)
CURRENT COST: $9.99
REMAINING BUDGET: $0.01
BUDGET DECK BUILDER SINCE 93'
Modern ------------------------- WU Azorius Titan Midrange
Commander ------------------- WUG Derevi, Empyrial Tactician
***Are you looking for cards priced below TCG NM "LOW" and with FREE SHIPPING? - Click HERE! for my sales thread - 485 Feedback 100% positive!***
Thanks for updating the OP. It's nice to see everything laid out in an easy to browse way. I think Zephyr wins most awesome brews so far, but there have been some other really cool interactions posted. Great thread!!
Pauper: Delver, Familiar Storm,
UR 8Post, Elves, Affinity, TEModern: Twin, Jund,
Eggs,Pod, Balance, Uxx ControlLegacy: Painter, Delver, Stoneblade, Elves, High Tide, Lands
I'm probably gonna give that deck another go, though, Looking at the other Midrange decks here, my deck doesn't match them in the slightest. I need way more biggies and less things cluttering up the cheaper slots. I'm working on a GU Heroic deck right now and i'll post that here soon (there's a thread on it on the forum) but after that i think i'll get back to Simic monstrosities.
Heck, I've been thinking of making it RUG or BUG, but i'll finish UG first before i do anything bold like that
enchanting Witchstalker with Raised by Wolves
Hopefully you had good luck with this the other night! I enjoy these type of decks, so I thought I'd give it a shot. I already had 99% of the cards on MTGO, so I put this together and got some games in with it. I did make a few changes, based on my experience, which I'll post at the end, but it worked extremely well for me.
Many (too many) opponents rage quit to this deck, which is obviously hilarious.
All-in-all this is basically a Tier 1 control deck, but without the Planeswalkers and Aetherling.
For comparison here is my version of your deck. I cut two Prognostic Sphinx's for some extra land and changed the spells around just a bit. I didn't re-check the price, but this should still be around $10:
9 Plains
13 Island
4 Azorius Guildgate
CREATURES - 6
2 Omenspeaker
2 Archaeomancer
2 Prognostic Sphinx
1 Elixir of Immortality
2 Syncopate
3 Celestial Flare
2 Essence Scatter
4 Azorius Charm
3 Divination
4 Detention Sphere
3 Dissolve
2 Ratchet Bomb
1 Haunted Plate Mail
3 Opportunity
Pauper: Delver, Familiar Storm,
UR 8Post, Elves, Affinity, TEModern: Twin, Jund,
Eggs,Pod, Balance, Uxx ControlLegacy: Painter, Delver, Stoneblade, Elves, High Tide, Lands
― Anthony Bourdain, Kitchen Confidential
I will always firmly stand by the belief that Magic is a game first and a collectable second.
― Anthony Bourdain, Kitchen Confidential
I will always firmly stand by the belief that Magic is a game first and a collectable second.
Not necessarily. You could simply post an idea/sample list with all the info necessary (I do that not only to show others, bt to also make a reference so i can check how the deck is supposed to function, but i assume you'd need to be able to test it yourself so you can make improvements when necessary.
well, what i'm trying to say is don't be discouraged just because you haven't played the deck yet. just feel free to post!
enchanting Witchstalker with Raised by Wolves
[U/B]
*** BACKGROUND ***
I realized something about mill. It's a ton of fun to play, and really frustrating for the opponent, but it's never really viable in standard constructed. Problem is, straight mill cards don't do anything to affect the board, and as such you tend to get crushed by opposing threats. So the way I figured out to make it work, is to use cards that have mill stapled onto them or have other functions in the deck like blocking or dealing damage. I also really think Lazav can be a fun card to have in a deck (plus he is the same price as a mcdonald's chicken sandwhich right now). Add in a control framework for removal and counterspells, and we have a good shot at making everything work out.
KEY CARDS & INTERACTIONS:
1) Rogue's Passage + Consuming Aberration: So you have this huge Aberration that get's chumped all day long. Solution? Unblockable.
2) Lazav, Dimir Mastermind + Dimir Charm: Arrange the top 3 cards however you like, leave them a land and drop their bomb in the graveyard for Lazav to impersonate.
3) Prognostic Sphinx + Bane Alley Broker: Swing with Sphinx, set up your draw then tap Broker and get what you need.
*** THE DECKLIST ***
TIMESTAMP: 11/11 @ 1225
9 Island
9 Swamp
4 Dimir Guildgate
1 Rogue's Passage
CREATURES - 16
2 Doorkeeper
4 Returned Phalanx
2 Duskmantle Guildmage
2 Bane Alley Broker
2 Lazav, Dimir Mastermind
2 Consuming Aberration
2 Prognostic Sphinx
2 Duress
2 Syncopate
2 Essence Scatter
1 Doom Blade
2 Dimir Charm
2 Warped Physique
2 Pilfered Plans
4 Psychic Strike
2 Grisly Spectacle
2 Far / Away
CURVE (0-1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 / 6+): 2 / 17 / 8 / 4 / 6 / 0
AVERAGE CMC: 2.86
TYPE: BDC10 ($10.00 LIMIT)
CURRENT COST: $7.01
REMAINING BUDGET: $2.99
BUDGET DECK BUILDER SINCE 93'
Modern ------------------------- WU Azorius Titan Midrange
Commander ------------------- WUG Derevi, Empyrial Tactician
***Are you looking for cards priced below TCG NM "LOW" and with FREE SHIPPING? - Click HERE! for my sales thread - 485 Feedback 100% positive!***
TDK:
Bane Alley Broker serves as a budget Jace AOT, basically. During heavy playtesting against Tier 1.5 $350 decks last night, it was useful for filtering out excess lands or getting to more lands. Also, most decks don't identify it for the card filtering engine it really is, and don't remove it until after you have sculpted most of your hand. (It also blocks any of the pesky x/2 first strikers)
Far / Away is indeed awesome, and I may ramp up to 4 copies. Only issue is it's really only exceptional when you can play both sides, and I'm heavy into 5 drops as it is.
Dimir Charm isn't very good in my Meta. The creatures are too large for it most of the time, and most spot removal is instant speed. It really only stops mortars. The fateseal is negative CA, and sometimes will whiff hard. I think I have enough early drops and other spells to secure the early game.
Aberration is actually not the main wincon. It's vulnerable to almost every removal spell. The wincons are divided between 1) Lazav cloning a bomb like Aetherling, AOS, or Blood Baron/Obzedat. 2) Aberration being made unblockable. 3) Sphinx beats in the air + superior card filtering with Broker
Everyone's meta will vary, so tweaks would be recommended.
I've made a few changes, due to the fact if a Planeswalker such as Ashiok drops past my defense I have no way to deal with it and subsequently lose. Thus there is another Sphinx, less defenders, and Syncopate in the main board to stop Ashiok when I'm on the draw.
Blood Baron is also a huge problem. Syncopate and the extra Sphinx stop that, and also can stop Stormbreath as well. It's worthwhile to note that the scatters are in the mainboard specifically for Aetherling.
BUDGET DECK BUILDER SINCE 93'
Modern ------------------------- WU Azorius Titan Midrange
Commander ------------------- WUG Derevi, Empyrial Tactician
***Are you looking for cards priced below TCG NM "LOW" and with FREE SHIPPING? - Click HERE! for my sales thread - 485 Feedback 100% positive!***
EDIT: Okay, after minor testing (and I do mean minor) I have to say that nighthowler is AMAZING! Main board for sure; I personally cut Prognostic Sphinx to fit it in. Also, Bane Alley Broker was perfect for getting me the cards I needed, so I like this in conjunction with so many 2-ofs. I'm questioning a few of the spells though: Duress, Dimir Charm, and Warped Physique seem weak to me compared to other options.
I generally dislike mill decks, but this was pretty fun since milling them was not the way I planned on winning. I mean, I was swinging with a 20/20 Consuming Aberration and a 15/15 Returned Phalanx equipped with Nighthowler. What's not to love about that?!
Pauper: Delver, Familiar Storm,
UR 8Post, Elves, Affinity, TEModern: Twin, Jund,
Eggs,Pod, Balance, Uxx ControlLegacy: Painter, Delver, Stoneblade, Elves, High Tide, Lands
Zwei:
My meta is incredibly heavy on removal, so yes Nighthowler is a good option to help combat that via it's bestow cost. However, it's not able to stop a lot one of the main enemies of the deck: Blood Baron. Prognostic is also one of the few cards that can nail planeswalkers consistently (they can't remove it, and it flies)
Duress is in the mainboard specifically to take out planeswalkers and sweepers. This deck has a really hard time with planeswalkers. A single resolved Elspeth, 5 drop Jace, Garruk or Ashiok and you will lose the game.
Dimir Charm and Warped Physique offer early removal and alternative utility late game. Valuable enough to have 2 of each.
And yes, Bane Alley is pretty nuts. It's weird, because no one really spends removal on it until it's too late and I've already traded in 2-3 excess lands for fuel.
BUDGET DECK BUILDER SINCE 93'
Modern ------------------------- WU Azorius Titan Midrange
Commander ------------------- WUG Derevi, Empyrial Tactician
***Are you looking for cards priced below TCG NM "LOW" and with FREE SHIPPING? - Click HERE! for my sales thread - 485 Feedback 100% positive!***
I guess i can get dialed back into the challenge then. I have a deck I have been using in FNM, will post it later
I wrote about a similar deck not too long ago on pureMTGO.
And while looking at it, I thought to myself hey I could make this under 10 dollars for shinbatsu's thread! So I changed a couple things around, took out the sideboard for price reasons, as well as some of the spells in the deck and of course Aetherling. The deck is still pretty much the same. It's a flash deck where almost every spell is an instant so you will be playing mostly on you're opponent's turn. And once they're out of resources you can land a chimera to finish the game.
I go into more detail about how the deck would look like when less of a budget is taken into an account, but two of the biggest additions here would be Aetherling and more Anger of the Gods as both would help you win the game faster. Some minor changes like Cancel into Dissolve and Inspiration into Quicken but overall it is still a fun deck to play and a pretty strong one at that.
Izzet Flash / Chimera Control
TIMESTAMP: 11/26/2013
10 Island
4 Izzet Guildgate
10 Mountain
2 Thespian's Stage
CREATURES - 6
2 Prognostic Sphinx
4 Spellheart Chimera
2 Anger of the Gods
2 Cancel
1 Dispel
4 Inspiration
3 Izzet Charm
3 Lightning Strike
3 Magma Jet
2 Opportunity
2 Syncopate
3 Thoughtflare
4 Turn // Burn
CURVE (0-1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 / 6+): 0 / 6 / 8 / 0 / 2 / 2
AVERAGE CMC: 1.7
TYPE: BDC10 ($10.00 LIMIT)
CURRENT COST: 9.93
REMAINING BUDGET: 0.07
DECK LINK: http://magic.tcgplayer.com/db/deck.asp?deck_id=1172961
I like it
Edit: I think I'll add Jace, Memory Adept. It'll be a pretty deadly combo with Duskmantle Guildmage. Cheap instant minus 10 life